Acyltransferase

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to at least one nucleotide sequence, derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding an acyltransferase polypeptide comprising at least one membrane-spanning region, encoding an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide in which at least one amino acid residue of the membrane-spanning region has been deleted and/or substituted as compared to the original acyltransferase polypeptide, wherein the encoded active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide can produce fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, waxesters, acylated carbohydrates, acylated amino acids, and lysolipids, e.g. lysophosphospholipid, lysolecithin. Thereby one single acyltransferase can be used for the production of a huge number of products. The invention also relates to means and methods for the production of such an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase and the use of such a membrane independent acyltransferase in industry.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to at least one nucleotide sequence, derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding an acyltransferase polypeptide comprising at least one membrane-spanning region, encoding an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide in which at least one amino acid residue of the membrane-spanning region has been deleted and/or substituted as compared to the original acyltransferase polypeptide, wherein the encoded active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide can produce fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, waxesters, acylated carbohydrates, acylated amino acids, and lysolipids, e.g. lysophosphospholipid, lysolecithin. Thereby one single acyltransferase can be used for the production of a huge number of products. The invention also relates to means and methods for the production of such an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase and the use of such a membrane independent acyltransferase in industry.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

A phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) has biochemically been characterised in yeast and plants and a gene, LRO1, encoding the PDAT enzyme was identified in yeast (Dahlqvist et al., 2000, PNAS 97:6487-6492). The enzyme was shown to catalyse the formation of triacylglycerols (TAG) by an acyltransfer from phospholipids to diacylglycerols (DAG). Furthermore, the enzymatic activity was found to be localised in the microsomal fraction. The gene encoding the PDAT enzyme was shown to have sequence homologies to the lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) gene family. The LCAT enzyme is used for the treatment of LCAT deficiencies, such as arteriosclerosis by increasing the activity of LCAT in serum of the mammal to a level effective to decrease the accumulation of cholesterol (WO9717434). The diet habit used by large groups of people today result in high cholesterol values with all other problems, which follow.

Lipases are enzymes that are primarily responsible for the hydrolysis of glycerolipids such as triacylglycerols. However, it is well known that lipases also under certain conditions in water free systems, can catalyse interesterification (Gandhi, 1997, J Am Oil Chem Soc 74 (6): 621-634). The wide berth for employment in a variety of reactions and broad substrate specificity has rendered the lipases to be very useful in a variety of applications such as production of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents, foods, perfumery, and other organic synthetic materials. One example is the use of an immobilised lipase for the synthesis of waxes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,767 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,623). The low stability, low activity or selectivity encountered occasionally with a number of these enzymes have been the chief obstacle hindering a more rapid expansion of industrial lipase technology into new applications on a large scale.

Additionally, mass-production of waxes have been performed by culturing microorganisms, together with fatty-acids, wherein acyltransferases present within the microorganism convert the fatty acids into waxesters, such as by using the microorganism Staphylococcus lentus (JP 1320989). Another example is the use of Arthrobacter ceroformans for the production of waxesters (Koronelli et al., 1979, Vestn. Mosk. Univ. Ser 16, Biol 3:62-64). Other examples are the use of transgenic hosts harbouring a gene encoding an acyltransferase for the production of waxes, as described in WO 9310241 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,947.

Industrial application using the above mentioned lipases as biocatalyst, for the production of a variety of waxesters, is limited to the group of lipases and the restrictions these enzymes have both regarding the products that could be produced and the conditions by which these enzymes are active. For example, the esterification must occur in water free solvents and under reduced pressure.

By the use of microorganisms there are limitations such as the need of several purification steps after the synthesis of the waxesters to be able to remove the microorganism and other impurities, which comes along with the culturing method. There are also difficulties in obtaining high yields of the waxesters. The microorganism may be one that naturally encodes enzymes suitable for the synthesis of waxesters, or a genetically modified microorganism, which by the modification obtains the ability to produce waxesters.

Furthermore, the waxesters that can be synthesised today are limited due to the substrate specificity of the enzymes catalysing the wax ester synthesis in these microorganisms. Moreover, these enzymes are integral membrane enzymes, which render it impossible to use such enzymes as biocatalyst in a cell free system such as in an industrial reactor.

There is a need for new improved enzymes, which enables the production of variety of fatty acid esters to high yields in cost-efficient industrial processes. Examples of fatty acid esters are structured glycerol fatty acid esters such as triacylglycerols with a specific acyl group at the sn2 positions that differs as compared to that of the outer positions and diacylglycerols with specific acylgroups. Production of fat-soluble fatty acid esters by acylation of water-soluble molecules, such as flavours and vitamins, is another example of desirable fatty acid esters. Other valuable fatty acid esters of interest are waxesters (i.e. fatty acids esterified to long chain alcohols), or fatty acid esters of molecules such as carbohydrates and amino acids. A method for the production of such compounds can be achieved by optimising enzymes that already is used as biocatalyst exemplified by the well-known families of lipases or other membrane independent enzymes. However, in nature many of the enzymes catalysing the transfer of acylgroups are integral membrane proteins. Among the membrane independent acyltransferases present in nature the vast majority catalyses an acyl-CoA dependent reaction. Both these classes of acyltransferases are not suited as a biocatalyst in industrial methods since integral membrane protein are not functioning in cell free systems and acyl-CoA is a to costly substrate. Furthermore, in applications involving enzymes belonging to the lipase family the interesterification is dependent on a water free system. Hence, membrane independent acyltransferases that could use acyl-lipids as acyl donors in industrial methods for the manufacturing of fatty acid esters are limited today and no such enzyme is available which can manufacture several different fatty acid ester and/or fatty acid thioesters, i.e., use a lot of different acyl donors and acyl acceptors.

There are also needs for enzymes to be used to improve the properties of complex raw material. For example within the area of food production, modification of different components such as lipids present in food raw material such as milk cereals, vegetables, eggs, vegetable oils, meat, fish, etc is desirable. Examples of improvements achieved by such modifications are enhanced emulsifying properties, increased shelf life, less off-flavour, etc. For example in many food applications enhanced emulsifying properties are desirable and can be achieved by converting phospholipids (i.e. lecithin) present in the food raw material into lysophospholipids. Lipases are commonly used in such applications resulting in elevated levels of lysophospholipids but also unesterified fatty acids that can result in off-flavours. Conversion of phospholipids into lysolipids without increased amounts of unesterified fatty acids is therefore desirable and can be achieved with acyltransferases that transfer the fatty acid from the phospholipid to an acyl acceptor such as monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, alcohols, or any other acyl acceptors present in or added to the raw material.

BRIEF DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in a first aspect the invention relates to one or more nucleotide sequence(s), derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding an acyltransferase polypeptide comprising at least one membrane-spanning region, encoding an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide in which at least one amino acid residue of the membrane-spanning region has been deleted and/or substituted as compared to the original acyltransferase polypeptide, wherein the encoded active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide can produce lysolipids and fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters such as lysophosphospholipid, lysolecithin, triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, waxesters, acylated carbohydrates and acylated amino acids. Such an improved acyltransferase can be used in a huge number of chemical reactions for the production of a large number of different fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters, which enables the possibility to in a economic way produce a large amount of a single enzyme which then can be used for several purposes.

Additionally, such an acyltransferase, which is capable of catalysing several reactions, enables the possibility to facilitate the production of a number of fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters by one single acyltransferase. Such an active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide may be used in a bioreactor for the production of desired fatty acid esters or as additive in food raw material for modification of its lipid composition without the need of a microorganism or a lipid membrane for the maintenance of the acyltransferase activity.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence molecule comprising at least one promoter region which functions in a host, the promoter region is operably linked to at least one nucleotide sequence as described above, which is operably linked to at least one non-translated region which functions in a host.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a method for the production of an active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide comprising the steps of providing a host cell and a growth medium preparing a host cell culture, culturing the host cell culture and harvesting the host cell culture and recovering the polypeptide.

By providing a nucleotide sequence encoding a membrane independent acyltransferase without the ability to become integrated into a membrane and having the ability to utilise different acyl donors and acyl acceptors, the ability to manufacture acylated products by a sole enzyme (i.e. fatty acid esters) is increased.

The membrane independent acyltransferase may be used in applications such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, foods, food additives, candles, soaps, detergents, laundries, polymers, coatings, plasticizer, drying oils, lubricants, varnishes, linoleum, printing, inks, textile dyes and surfactants, especially within the area of synthesis of stereo specific isomers, which not is possible with the use of conventional organic synthesis.

Furthermore, the synthesis of fatty acid esters with the use of such an enzyme in a cell free method, such as in a bioreactor can be more efficient and less restricted since the method is only limited to the conditions by which the enzyme is active, whereas in a fermentation method the limitations is set by the conditions for the maintenance of the microorganisms. In such a fermentation system the fatty acid ester products to be synthesised is limited to the building components, such as acyl donors and acyl acceptors present within the cell, whereas in a cell free system the limitation is only set by the properties of the enzyme such as substrate specificity. In a cell free system it is easy to calculate the amounts of the building components which are necessary to add to obtain an optimised enzyme catalysed method in which most of the building components ends up in the desired products such as fatty acid esters. Moreover, the use of lipases in a method for the synthesis of fatty acid esters is limited to water free conditions whereas membrane independent acyltransferases catalyses the acyl transfers in water containing systems.

Furthermore, use of a membrane independent acyltransferase as compared to a microorganism for the synthesis of for example lysophospholipids and/or fatty acid esters reduces the need of removing the microorganism after the synthesis is finalised

By the use of the new improved enzyme according to the invention it is possible to produce structured lipids without the need of organic solvents, which would be both environmentally favourable, healthier and eliminates one or more purification steps after the production of the structured lipids. Additionally, it may be easier to get an approval by the authorities for such a product, manufactured in a process without the use of organic solvents.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated with reference to the drawings in which

FIG. 1 shows Western blot analysis using protein extract of the cell free supernatant from growth of Pichia pastoris KM71H transformed with the pATWAX construct.

FIG. 2 shows the synthesis of triacylglycerol catalysed by the membrane independent acyltransferase (ATWAX), as visualized by autoradiography of lipid products separated on TLC.

FIG. 3. shows the time course of the wax esters synthesises from added soy lecithin and 13c-docosenoyl-alcohol (◯) or ricinoleoyl-alcohol (●) in cell free medium of Pichia pastoris cultures expressing the membrane independent acyltransferase HisATWAX as described in EXAMPLE 5.

FIG. 4. shows the dependence of the ratio of the lecithin and ricinoleoyl-alcohol substrates (panel A) and increased substrate concentration with a fixed ratio of the substrates (panel B) on the wax ester synthesis were determined as described in EXAMPLE 5.

FIG. 5. shows acyl group composition of soy lecithin (filled bars) and wax esters (open bars) produced from soy lecithin and ricinoleoyl alcohol as described in EXAMPLE 5. Abbreviations used; palmitoyl (16:0), palmitoleoyl (16:1), stearoyl (18:0), oleoyl (18:1), linoleoyl (18:2), linolenoyl (18:3).

FIG. 6. shows microsomes prepared from wild type Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, overexpressing the yeast PDAT gene LRO1, catalyses synthesis of triacylglycerols but not wax esters. Acyltransferase activities were analysed in the presence of the substrate sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[¹⁴C]oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (lane 1) together with either ricinoleoyl alcohol (Ric-OH, lane 2) or 13c-docosenol (22:1-OH, lane 3) as described in EXAMPLE 6.

FIG. 7. shows the alignment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (ScPDAT) amino acid sequence, encoded from the LRO1 gene, with the Schizosaccharomyces pombe SpPDAT, Arabidopsis At6704, At1254, At3027, At4557 and the Crepis alpina Cp6704 and Cp1254 deduced amino acid sequences.

FIG. 8. shows part of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (ScPDAT) amino acid sequence, encoded from the LRO1 gene, aligned with amino acid sequences translated from the AnPDAT and AfPDAT nucleic acid sequences.

FIG. 9. shows the synthesis of triacylglycerol catalysed by the membrane independent acyltransferase (HisATWAX-P6), as visualized by autoradiography of lipid products separated on TLC.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Definitions

In the context of the present application and invention the following definitions apply:

The term “nucleotide sequence” is intended to mean a sequence of two or more nucleotides. The nucleotides may be of genomic, cDNA, RNA, semi synthetic or synthetic origin or a mixture thereof. The term includes single and double stranded forms of DNA or RNA.

The term “deleted and/or substituted” is intended to mean that one or more amino acid residue(s) is/are removed (deleted) from the polypeptide and/or changed (substituted) into another amino acid(s).

The term “nucleotide sequence molecule” is intended to indicate a consecutive stretch of three or more regions of nucleotide sequences. The nucleotide sequence molecule comprises a promoter region, a nucleotide sequence and a non-translated region. The nucleotide sequence or nucleotide sequence molecule may be of genomic, cDNA, RNA, semi-synthetic or synthetic origin, or a combination thereof. The nucleotide sequence molecule is designed to express a nucleotide sequence located within the nucleotide sequence molecule when the nucleotide sequence molecule integrated into the genome or within a microorganism.

The term “promoter region” is intended to mean one or more nucleotide sequences involved in the expression of a nucleotide sequence, e.g. promoter nucleotide sequences, as well as nucleotide sequences involved in regulation and/or enhancement of the expression of the structural gene. A promoter region comprises a promoter nucleotide sequence involved in the expression of a nucleotide sequence, and normally other functions such as enhancer elements and/or signal peptides. The promoter region may be selected from a plant, virus and bacteria or it may be of semi-synthetic or synthetic origin or a mixture thereof as long as it functions in a microorganism. Example of a promoter region is the methanol oxidase promoter, which can be used for the expression of polypeptides in Pichia pastoris.

The term “a non-translated region” also called termination region is intended to mean a region of nucleotide sequences, which typically cause the termination of transcription and the polyadenylation of the 3′ region of the RNA sequence. The non-translated region may be of native or synthetic origin as long as it functions in a microorganism according to the definition above.

The term “operably linked” is intended to mean the covalent joining of two or more nucleotide sequences by means of enzymatic ligation, in a configuration which enables the normal functions of the sequences ligated to each other. For example a promoter region is operably linked to a signal peptide region and/or a coding nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide to direct and/or enable transcription of the coding nucleotide sequence. Another example is a coding nucleotide sequence operably linked to a 3′ non-translated region for termination of transcription of the nucleotide sequence. Generally, “operably linked” means that the nucleotide sequences being linked are continuously and in reading frame. Linking is normally accomplished by ligation at convenient restriction sites. If such sites do not exist, synthetic adaptors or the like are used in conjunction with standard recombinant DNA techniques well known for a person skilled in the art.

The term “acyltransferase” is intended to mean a polypeptide, which have the ability to catalyse the transfer of an acyl group from one molecule to another (i.e. interesterification). This transfer involves the breakage of an ester or a thioester bound of the donor molecule and the formation of an ester or thioester bound between the transferred acyl group and the acceptor molecule. Hence, in principal any molecule with an ester/thioester-linked acylgroup can act as a donor molecule and a molecule with at least one hydroxy or a thiol group could act as an acceptor molecule. Commonly occurring donor molecules are acyl-CoA or lipids such as phospholipids and the acyltransferases are in nature known to catalyse e.g., with diacylglycerols, sterols and alcohols as acceptor molecules, the final step in the synthesis of the storage compounds triacylglycerols (TAG), steryl esters and wax esters, respectively.

The term “lipid dependent acyltransferase” is intended to mean an acyltransferase as described above restricted to utilising lipids such as phospholipids, glycolipids, triacylglycerols or other acyl-lipids that could serve as the acyl donor in the acyltransfer reaction. The lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) (Jonas A., 2000, Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1529: 245-256) and the bacterial glycerophospholipid: cholesterol acyltransferase (GCAT) (Brumlik and Buckley, 1996, J. Bacteriol. 178: 2060-2064) are the only known lipid dependent acyl transferase that has been shown to be functionally active as soluble proteins. All other known lipid dependent acyltransferases are polypeptides with one or several membrane spanning regions and is exemplified by the phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) and its homologues. It should also be noted that the LCAT enzyme is dependent on an apolipoprotein for functionality. The bacterial GCAT does not show any strong sequence homologies to neither the LCAT nor the PDAT enzymes or to any other known acyltransferases.

The term “membrane independent acyltransferase” are intended to mean an acyltransferase, which is functionally active without being via a membrane-spanning region integrated into a membrane. The “membrane independent acyltransferase” is also active in a water-based environment.

The term “enzymatic conditions” are intended to mean that any necessary conditions available in an environment, which will permit the enzyme to function.

The term “membrane spanning region” is intended to mean part of a polypeptide which anchor the polypeptide into a membrane and is hydrophobic, i.e., the membrane spanning region, such as amino acid residue number 80-96 of the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO:1 in the patent application WO 00/60095, as predicted by a hydrophobic plot (Kyte, & Dolittle).

The term “stringent conditions” is intended to mean hybridisation and washing conditions which permits the hybridisation between related nucleotide sequences to be permitted during the hybridisation and remain hybridised during the washing, such as an overnight hybridisation at 42° C. in a solution comprising 50% formamide, 5×SSC (150 mM NaCl, 15 mM trisodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH7.6), 5× Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulphate and 20 mg/ml denatured sheared salmon sperm DNA followed by washing the hybridisation membrane or support in 0.1×SSC at approximately 65° C.

The term “acyl donors” are intended to mean phospholipids, triacylglycerols or other molecules containing at least one esterified acyl group that can be donated to an acyl acceptor in the production of fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters.

The term “acyl acceptors” are intended to mean molecules with at least one hydroxy or thiol group, to which acyl groups derived from the acyl donors can be esterified in the formation of an fatty acid esters or thioesters.

The term “fatty acid esters” are intended to mean fatty acid esters produced by a membrane independent acyltransferase catalysing the formation of ester bounds as described herein from the above mentioned acyl donor and acyl acceptors. Examples of fatty acid esters are acyl-lipids such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, lysolipids etc; waxesters (i.e. fatty acids esterified with long chain alcohols); acylated carbohydrates; acylated amino acids; or any other molecules with at least one acyl group esterified to a hydroxyl group.

The term “stabiliser” is intended to mean any kind of stabilising agent used by persons skilled in the art in order to increase the stability and shelf life time of enzymes.

Nucleotide Sequences Nucleotide Sequence Molecules or Vectors of the Invention

The invention relates to one or more nucleotide sequence(s), derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding an acyltransferase polypeptide comprising at least one membrane-spanning region, encoding an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide in which at least one amino acid residue of the membrane-spanning region has been deleted and/or substituted as compared to the original acyltransferase polypeptide, wherein the encoded active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide can produce lysolipids and fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters such as lysophosphospholipid, lysolecithin, triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, waxesters, acylated carbohydrates and acylated amino acids. By deletion and/or substitution of one or more amino acid residues the encoded polypeptide looses the ability to become integrated into a membrane and remains membrane independent as compared to the original polypeptide. The numbers and/or the location of the amino acid residue(s) to be deleted and/or substituted is/are not critical as long as the polypeptide by the deletion and/or substitution become membrane independent. Part of the membrane-spanning region may be present as long as it does not integrate or attach the polypeptide to a membrane. The polypeptide encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase named ATWAX is a membrane independent acyltransferase which may be encoded by a nucleotide sequence, originally encoding an integral membrane protein with one or several membrane spanning regions wherein one or several of the membrane spanning regions has/have been deleted and/or substituted. The nucleotide sequence may also be synthetic or semi synthetic as long as it has the function of a membrane independent acyltransferase which may be used in the formation of fatty acid esters, like acyl-lipids such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, lysolipids etc; waxesters (i.e. fatty acids esterified with long chain alcohols); acylated carbohydrates; acylated amino acids; or any other molecules with at least one acyl group esterified to a hydroxyl group. The nucleotide sequence encoding the acyltransferase may be derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding a lipid dependent acyltransferase polypeptide, such as a nucleotide sequence encoding an lipid dependent acyltransferase polypeptide catalysing an acyl transfer reaction in which acylphospholipids acts as acyl donors, for example a nucleotide sequence encoding a phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase.

Such nucleotide sequences may be obtained from different kind of species such as bacteria, yeasts, fungi, plants, insects or mammalians. Examples are Arabidopsis thaliana, Crepis palaestina, Euphorbia lagascae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Aspergillus strains, e.g. A. niger, A. nidulans, A. fumigatus, A. sojae, Pichia strains, such as P. Pastoris or P. methanolica Mucor strains, e.g. M. circinelloides, Hansenula, such as H. Polymorpha and Trichoderma, Klyveromyces, or Yarrowia. Examples on nucleotide sequences are shown in SEQ ID NO:1, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or 20.

According to one embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence, wherein from 1 to 291 nucleotide sequence residue(s) has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1. The number(s) of nucleotide sequence residues to be deleted is/are chosen in such a way that the open reading frame of the nucleotide sequence encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide is not disturbed and the membrane spanning region corresponding to nucleotide sequence 238 to 288 is deleted and/or substituted. One example is the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, where 290 nucleotide sequence residues have been deleted and/or substituted resulting in the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO:3.

According to another embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence, wherein from 1 to 219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of the 5′-end has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 4, 1-87 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:8 and SEQ ID NO:10 and 1-190 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:12.

According to another embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence, wherein at least the nucleotide sequence residues 142 to 210 have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:4, 19-87 nucleotide sequence residues of SEQ ID NO 8 and SEQ ID NO:10 and 130-190 nucleotide sequence residues of SEQ ID NO:12.

According to another embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence, wherein from 1 to 228 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of the 5′-end has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 16, 1-219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:18 and 1-261 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:20.

According to another embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence, wherein at least the nucleotide sequence residues 169 to 228 have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:16, 151-219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:18 and 193-261 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:20.

The number(s) of nucleotide sequence residues to be deleted is/are chosen in such a way that the open reading frame of the nucleotide sequence encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide is not disturbed and the membrane spanning region are removed/deleted.

According to one embodiment of the invention the nucleotide sequence encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide may hybridise under stringent conditions to a nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or 20. Furthermore the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or 20 may be different as compared to another nucleotide sequence due to the degeneracy of the genetic code.

Additionally the nucleotide sequence encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide may at least show 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% homology to the amino acid sequence(s) shown in SEQ ID NO:3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, 21 or a homologue thereof.

Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO 2, encoding the membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO 3, may be modified by removing (deleting) nucleotides, encoding one or several amino acid residues in the N-terminal part corresponding to the first 71 amino acid residues of the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO 3, with maintained acyltransferase activity. Furthermore one or more amino acid residues may be substituted as long as the acyltransferase activity remains. Methods, which are suitable for the removal (deletion) of a specific nucleic acid sequence are well known for a person skilled in the art and includes methods such as PCR.

Moreover, the amino acid residues S229, D472, and H523 shown in SEQ ID NO 3 are essential for activity as described in the examples and is here suggested to be part of the a catalytic triad in the active site of the enzyme.

Additionally, the invention relates to an oligonucleotide, which specifically hybridise under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence(s) and/or the nucleic acid molecule(s) described herein. The oligonucleotide may be used for the detection of the nucleotide sequence and/or the nucleotide sequence, such as the presence of the nucleotide sequence within a host cell.

According to another embodiment the invention relates to a nucleotide sequence molecule, which comprises at least one promoter region which functions in a host. The promoter region is operably linked to at least one nucleotide sequence as described above, which is operably linked to at least one non-translated region which functions in a host. Furthermore, a signal peptide may be present between the promoter region and the nucleotide sequence as described above.

The nucleotide sequence molecule may be present in a vector, such as an expression vector, which may be used for the production of the polypeptide, which has acyltransferase activity. The vector is typically derived from plasmid or viral DNA. A number of suitable expression vectors for expression in the host cells mentioned herein are commercially available or described in the literature. Any kind of vector may be used as long as it functions in a host cell which is capable of performing glycosylation of the polypeptide, such as vectors which functions in yeast. Useful expression vectors for yeast cells include the 2μ plasmid and derivatives thereof, the POTI vector (U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,373), the pJSO37 vector described in Okkels, Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 782, 202-207, 1996, and pPICZ A, B or C (Invitrogen).

Other vectors for use in this invention include those that allow the nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide to be amplified in copy number. Such amplifiable vectors are well known in the art. They include, for example, vectors able to be amplified by DHFR amplification (see, e.g., Kaufman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,461, Kaufman and Sharp, “Construction Of A Modular Dihydrafolate Reductase cDNA Gene: Analysis Of Signals Utilized For Efficient Expression”, Mol. Cell. Biol., 2, pp. 1304-19 (1982)) and glutamine synthetase (“GS”) amplification (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,464 and EP 338,841).

The vector may further comprise a DNA sequence enabling the vector to replicate in the host cell in question. When the host cell is a yeast cell, suitable sequences enabling the vector to replicate are the yeast plasmid 2μ replication genes REP 1-3 and start of replication.

The vector may also comprise a selectable marker, e.g., a gene the product of which complements a toxin related deficiency in the host cell, such as the gene coding for dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) or the Schizosaccharomyces pombe TPI gene (described by P. R. Russell, Gene 40, 1985, pp. 125-130), or one which confers resistance to a drug, e.g., ampicillin, kanamycin, tetracyclin, chloramphenicol, neomycin, hygromycin, zeocin or methotrexate. For Saccharomyces cerevisiae, selectable markers include ura3 and leu2. For filamentous fungi, selectable markers include amdS, pyrG, arcB, niaD and sC.

The term “control sequences” is defined herein to include all components, which are necessary or advantageous for the expression of the polypeptide of the invention. Each control sequence may be native or foreign to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide. Such control sequences include, but are not limited to, a leader sequence, signal peptide, polyadenylation sequence, propeptide sequence, promoter (inducible or constitutive), enhancer or upstream activating sequence, signal peptide sequence, and transcription terminator. At a minimum, the control sequences include a promoter. Examples of suitable control sequences for use in yeast host cells include the promoters of the yeast α-mating system, the yeast triose phosphate isomerase (TPI) promoter, promoters from yeast glycolytic genes or alcohol dehydrogenase genes, the ADH2-4c promoter, and the inducible GAL promoter. Examples of suitable control sequences for use in filamentous fungal host cells include the ADH3 promoter and terminator, a promoter derived from the genes encoding Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase triose phosphate isomerase or alkaline protease, an A. niger α-amylase, A. niger or A. nidulans glucoamylase, A. nidulans acetamidase, Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase or lipase, the TPI1 terminator and the ADH3 terminator.

The presence or absence of a signal peptide will, e.g., depend on the expression host cell used for the production of the polypeptide to be expressed (whether it is an intracellular or extra cellular polypeptide) and whether it is desirable to obtain secretion. For use in filamentous fungi, the signal peptide may conveniently be derived from a gene encoding an Aspergillus sp. amylase or glucoamylase, a gene encoding a Rhizomucor miehei lipase or protease or a Humicola lanuginosa lipase. The signal peptide is preferably derived from a gene encoding A. oryzae TAKA amylase, A. niger neutral α-amylase, A. niger acid-stable amylase, or A. niger glucoamylase. For use in yeast cells suitable signal peptides have been found to be the α-factor signal peptide from S. cereviciae (cf. U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,008), a modified carboxypeptidase signal peptide (cf. L. A. Valls et al., Cell 48, 1987, pp. 887-897), the yeast BAR1 signal peptide (cf. WO 87/02670), the yeast aspartic protease 3 (YAP3) signal peptide (cf. M. Egel-Mitani et al., Yeast 6, 1990, pp. 127-137), and the synthetic leader sequence TA57 (WO98/32867).

Furthermore the invention relates to an oligonucleotide, which hybridises under stringent conditions (as defined above) to a nucleotide sequence and/or a nucleotide sequence molecule as described above.

Host Cells Method and Polypeptide of the Invention

Any suitable host cell may be used for the maintenance and production of the vector of the invention as long as the host is capable of producing a glycosylated product. The host cell may be a eukaryotic cell, for example fungi, yeast, insects and mammalian cells. A eukaryotic system may provide significant advantages compared to the use of a prokaryotic system, for the production of certain polypeptides encoded by nucleotide sequence molecules and/or vectors present within the host cell or integrated into the genome of the host cell. For example, yeast can generally be grown to higher cell densities than bacteria and may be capable of glycosylating expressed polypeptides, where such glycosylation is important for a proper folding of the polypeptide and/or catalytic activity of the polypeptide.

The host cell may be a host cell belonging to a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certified cell-line. Examples of suitable filamentous fungal host cells include strains of Fusarium, Trichoderma, Aspergillus, e.g. A. oryzae, A. niger, A. sojae or A. nidulans, Mucor, e.g. M circinelloides. Examples of suitable yeast host cells include strains of Saccharomyces, e.g. S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces, Klyveromyces, Pichia, such as P. Pastoris or P. methanolica, Hansenula, such as H. Polymorpha or Yarrowia. Examples of P. Pastoris strains are X-33, KM71H, and GS115 which may be obtained from Invitrogen Inc. Pichia pastoris is a methylotrophic yeast which can grow on methanol as a sole carbon and energy source (Ellis et al., 1985). P. pastoris is also amenable to efficient high cell density fermentation technology. Therefore is Pichia pastoris a suitable host for expression of heterologous protein in large quantity, with a methanol oxidase promoter based expression system (Cregg et al., 1987). Additional suitable donor cell lines are known in the art and available from public depositories such as the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md.

The vector is transferred (introduced) into the host cell using a suitable method dependent on which host cell has been selected. The introduction of the vector harbouring the nucleotide sequence molecule into fungal cells may be by a method involving protoplast formation, transformation of the protoplasts, and regeneration of the cell wall in a manner known per se. Suitable procedures for transformation of Aspergillus host cells are described in EP 238 023 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,543. Suitable methods for transforming Fusarium species are described by Malardier et al., 1989, Gene 78: 147-156 and WO 96/00787. Yeast may be transformed using the procedures described by Becker and Guarente, In Abelson, J. N. and Simon, M. I., editors, Guide to Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, Methods in Enzymology, Volume 194, pp 182-187, Academic Press, Inc., New York; Ito et al., 1983, Journal of Bacteriology 153: 163; Hinnen et al., 1978, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 75: 1920: and as disclosed by Clontech Laboratories, Inc, Palo Alto, Calif., USA (in the product protocol for the Yeastmaker™ Yeast Transformation System Kit) or by using the Pichia Manual supplied by Invitrogen Inc. These methods are well known in the art and e.g., described by Ausbel et al. (eds.), 1996, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

In the production methods (process) of the present invention, the cells are cultivated in a growth medium suitable for maintenance and/or production of the nucleotide sequence molecule and/or the vector using methods known in the art. For example, the cell may be cultivated by shake flask cultivation, small-scale or large-scale fermentation (including continuous, batch, fed-batch, or solid state fermentations) in laboratory or industrial fermenters performed in a suitable growth medium and under conditions allowing the vector, nucleotide sequence molecule or polypeptide to be expressed and/or isolated. The vector, nucleotide sequence molecule or the polypeptide may be used in the chemical or in the pharmaceutical industry. The cultivation takes place in a suitable growth medium comprising carbon and nitrogen sources and inorganic salts, using procedures known in the art. Suitable growth media are available from commercial suppliers or may be prepared according to published compositions (e.g., in catalogues of the American Type Culture Collection). The cultivation of Pichia pastoris is performed using the method described in EXAMPLE 2 or any other suitable method. After cultivation, the polypeptide is recovered from the culture medium, the cells or after separating the cells from the culture medium. The recovered polypeptide encodes an active membrane independent acyltransferase without the ability to become integrated into a membrane, i.e., one ore more of the amino acid residue(s) present in the membrane spanning region has/have been deleted and/or substituted. Examples of methods are those mentioned in Maniatis et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbour Press) (1989) and Qiagen Inc.

According to another embodiment the polypeptide is an acyltransferase active at a pH ranging from about 4 to about 10, and stable at a temperature below about 60° C. The enzymatic activity of the polypeptide can be measured using the assay method described in EXAMPLE 4 or EXAMPLE 5.

The polypeptide may furthermore be immobilised to a carrier. Suitable carriers and methods for the immobilisation of the polypeptide to the carrier are well known for a person skilled in the art (Tisher, W., & Kasche, V., 1999, Trends Biotechnol. 17(8): 326-335).

According to one embodiment of the invention the polypeptide named ATWAX and described above may be lyophilised and/or freeze-dried. Lyophilisation and/or freeze-drying may be performed using conventional techniques known for a person skilled in the art.

A further embodiment relates to the use of a nucleotide sequence and/or a nucleotide sequence molecule and/or a vector and/or a host cell and/or the methods and/or the polypeptide of the invention. The polypeptide may be used for the production of fatty acid esters. Examples of fatty acid esters are acyllipids such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, lysolipids; waxesters; acylated carbohydrates; acylated amino acids; or any other molecules with at least one acyl group esterified to a hydroxyl group are fatty acid esters.

Examples of products which may be produced by the method are fatty acid esters used in cosmetics, foods, food additives, dairy products, confectionary, flavours, bakery, pharmaceuticals, candles, soaps, detergents, laundries, polymers, coatings, plasticizer-, drying oils, lubricants, varnishes, linoleum, printing, inks, textile dyes and surfactants.

Examples of what the invented polypeptide may be used for are listed below.

Production of Structured Lipids

The invented polypeptide(s) are suitable to be used in the production of structured lipids without the need of organic solvents, which would be both environmentally favourable, healthier and eliminates one or more purification steps after the production of the structured lipids. Additionally, it may be easier to get an approval by the authorities for such a product, manufactured in a process without the use of organic solvents. The positional distribution of acyl groups differing in length and degree of saturation in the triacylglycerol molecule is known to be important regarding nutritional and health aspects partly due to differences in digestibility and absorbability. As an example most triacylglycerols of vegetable origin are highly unsaturated at the 2-position, mainly oleic and linoleic acid. However, in human milk fat the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid is highly enriched at the 2-position and it is known that such type of fat is more easily absorbed and utilized by infants. Structured triacylglycerols mimicking the properties of triacylglycerols in the human milk fat can be manufactured in a process in which ATWAX catalyses the transfer of acyl groups from the sn2 position of lecithin to monoacylglycerol with palmitic acid at the sn2 position (2-palmitoyl glycerol), yielding triacylglycerols enriched with unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic and linoleic acid in the 1-, 3-positions and palmitic acid in the 2-position. The source of the 2-palmitoyl glycerol for use in this process may be obtained by 1, 3 specific lipase hydrolyses of palm oil enriched in triacylglycerols with palmitic acid at the 2-position.

In another application structured lipids are used as fat replacers in low calorie foods. Acylglycerols with an acetyl group at the 2-position are used as fat replacers in low calorie foods such as dairy products, bakery, cereals, pasta, cheese, tofu, chocolate, chocolate confections, margarine, salted snacks, sour cream, spreads etc. This diet fat can be manufactured in a process in which ATWAX catalyse the transfer of acyl groups from the sn2 position of lecithin to 2-acetyl glycerol. In a similar manner, structured diacylglycerols can be produced by an acyltransfer of fatty acids from an acyldonor such as lecithin to glycerol as the acceptor molecule. The major product in such a process is 1,3-diacylglycerol (i.e. diacylglycerol with acyl groups at the sn1 and sn2 position), since the ATWAX enzyme has preferences for the acylation of the sn 1 and sn3 positions of the glycerol molecule.

Production of Fat-Soluble Molecules.

The invented polypeptide(s) are suitable to be used to render molecules more hydrophobic by coupling fatty acids via an acylation reaction to molecules that otherwise are badly soluble in hydrophobic solvents such as fats and oils. Example of such modification, is the acylation of water soluble flavours and vitamins which makes these fatty acid esters of flavours and vitamins more fat soluble and hence more suitable for certain applications such as food, cosmetic, and pharma applications. As an example fatty acid esters of vitamins such as vitamin E (tocopherol) are used in skin-care products since the vitamins are more readily adsorbed into the skin. In certain food applications it is desirable to make water-soluble flavours, vitamins or other additives are more easily mixed into fatty foodstuffs. In a process involving ATWAX the manufacturing of fatty acid esters by the acylation of hydrophilic molecules possessing a hydroxyl group can be performed by an acyltransfer catalysed by ATWAX. The acyl donor molecule in this reaction can be lecithin or phospholipids or any other suitable acyl-lipids.

Removal of Undesirable Fat.

The invented polypeptide(s) are suitable to be used enables the removal of one or more fatty acids from a molecule by the use of ATWAX, such as by transferring one or more fatty acids from a molecule to an acceptor molecule such as monoacylglycerol, diacylglycerol. Phospholipids present within milk and dairy products are examples of molecules from which one fatty acid may be removed are. The major phospholipids present in milks from mammals are phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and sphingolipids, each comprising about 30% of the total phospholipids present. These phospholipids are part of the milk fat globule membrane fraction, which constitutes a minor part of the whole milk lipids. Apart from the phospholipids this membrane lipid fraction also contains TAG, diacylglycerol and monoacylglycerol.

It is desirable to remove fatty acids, especially unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acid from milk prior to use of the milk in products such as low fat or non fat products. During storage the unsaturated fatty acids that are mainly present on the sn2-position of the phospholipids, becomes oxidised and thus the milk product becomes rancid with a bad smell and taste (off-flavour). Today, there is no suitable method for removal of these undesirable fatty acids from milk. By the addition of ATWAX to milk the fatty acid on the sn2 position of the phospholipid is transacylated to the acceptor molecule such as monoacylglycerol and/or diacylglycerol by which triacylglycerol is produced. This formed TAG will be removed together with the main TAG, in the production of low fat or non-fat product such as dry milk powder, cheese, yoghurt and other dairy products. Thereby the off-flavouring is reduced and/or eliminated and the shelf life time of the products could be increased.

Furthermore, in the transfer of fatty acids in milk from the phospholipids to acceptor molecules such as monoacylglycerols or diacylglycerols, the phospholipids will be converted to lysophospholipids. With an increased fraction of lysophospholipids, the membrane lipid fraction is more easily disintegrated and the encapsulated TAG is released. This released fraction of TAG as well as the TAG that is formed in the transfer of fatty acids from lecithin to monoacylglycerols and/or diacylglycerol will be removed together with the main TAG fraction. Thereby a process, in production of low-fat or non-fat milk products, involving the use of ATWAX can more efficiently reduce the fat content in such milk products.

Another field of application is to use ATWAX to remove phospholipids e.g. lecithin. In the refining of vegetable oils, the removal of the lecithin fraction, i.e. degumming is an important process in the production of high quality oils. In a refining process involving the use of ATWAX, lecithin present in the oil can be converted into lysolecithin, which will be removed from the oil into the water phase. The fatty acid removed from the lecithin in this process will be transferred to an acceptor molecule present in the oil such as diacylglycerol by which triacylglycerol is formed.

Modification of Lipids Presents in Animal and Plant Raw Material.

In the field of baking, bread improvers such as emulsifiers based on lipids are commonly used. However, these emulsifiers are known to give off-flavour and also caking and lumping problems, especially in hot and humid climates. In flour, such as wheat flour, polar lipids mainly lecithin and galactolipid (e.g. digalctosyldiacylglycerol) are present. In a baking process in which ATWAX is added, the lecithin and the galactolipid deriving from the flour, can enzymatically be converted into the corresponding lysolipids. This conversion of the polar lipids into lysolipids are known to give a similar stabilising effect of the dough as what is achieved with the today commonly added emulsifiers such as diacetyl tartaric acid esters of monoacylglycerols. Therefore the ATWAX enzyme can totally or partly replace the use of emulsifiers in the baking process and thus reduce the problems with off-flavour and the tendency of lump formation.

In a similar manner the conversion of lecithin or phospholipids present in “raw materials” such as milk, flour, eggs, soy protein, cocoa, or any other animal or plant materials into lysolecithin or lysophospholipids can be executed in a process involving ATWAX. In such as process important properties of the raw material are modulated, such as amphiphilic nature, texture, melting point, viscosity, flavour, emulsification, foaming, and wetting, to be suited for the production of a certain complex foodstuffs. Thereby, the need for food additives such as emulsifiers, wetting agents, dough strengtheners, and film formers are reduced.

Kit of the Invention

A kit comprising the polypeptide which has the enzymatic activity of a (membrane independent) acyltransferase and the membrane spanning region removed or a fragment thereof or a kit in which the polypeptide has been immobilised on a carrier. The polypeptide may be provided in the kit as lyophilised or freeze dried. The kit may also comprise components, which are essential for the stability and activity of the polypeptide, such as a stabiliser. The kit may furthermore comprise a manual with instructions for the use of the polypeptide.

The following examples are intended to illustrate but not to limit the invention in any manner, shape, or form, either explicitly or implicitly.

EXAMPLES Example 1

Amplification of Nucleotide Sequences, Homologues to the Saccharomvees cerevisiae Gene LRO1, for Expression in Pichia pastoris.

Nucleotide sequences were amplified from a plasmid template (pBluescript, Stratagene Inc.) containing the intact yeast gene LRO1, encoding a phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) with one membrane-spanning region, (described in Dahlqvist et al., 2000, PNAS 97:6487-6492) by thermo stable Pfu Turbo Polymerase (Stratagene Inc.). A set of primers were designed for the amplification of three different nucleotide sequences A, B, and C, identical in nucleotide sequence to the part of the LRO1 gene encoding the amino acid residues 98 to 661, 170 to 661 and 190 to 661 respectively. The forward (5′ end) primers used for this PCR reaction were for the sequence A, B, and C; 5′CCATGGGAATGAATTCATGGCTTATCATGTTCATAATAGCGATAGC3′, 5′CCATGGGAATGAATTCCGAGGCCAAACATCCTGTTGTAATG3′, and 5′CCATGGGAATGAATTCGGAGTTATTGGAGACGATGAGTGCGATAGT3′, respectively.

The oligonucleotide sequence, 5′ GCCTCCTTGGGCGGCCGCTCACATTGGGAGGGCATCTGAGAAAC3′ was used as the reverse (3′ end) primer in all the three PCR amplifications. The three amplified nucleotide sequences all lack the sequence region, present in the LRO1, which encodes a transmembrane region. The amplified nucleotide sequence A is shown in SEQ ID NO 2.

Additionally one nucleotide sequence was amplified resulting in the nucleotide sequence D with nucleotides encoding 6-residue histidine at the N-terminus in frame with the region encoding the amino acid residues 98 to 661 of the yeast PDAT. This was achieved by first sub cloning the amplified nucleotide sequence A above into the NheI and XhoI sites of the plasmid pET28a(+) and then using the following oligonucleotide primers for PCR amplification; 5′CCATGGGAATGAATTCATGGGCAGC AGCAGCCATCATCAT3′ and 5′GCCTCCTTGGGCGGCCGCTCACATTGGGAGG GCATCTGAGAAAC3′.

The amplified PCR products A, B, C, and D above, were purified, digested by EcoRI and NotI, and subcloned between the EcoRI and NotI sites of the Pichia expression vector PpicZ□A in frame with the sequence encoding the □□factor signalpeptide present in the expression vector. The resultant Pichia expression vectors are named pATWAX, p72ATWAX, p92ATWAX, and pHISATWAX, with inserts encoding the polypeptides ATWAX, 72ATWAX, 92ATWAX, and HISATWAX respectively. These vectors were linearized using unique SacI restriction site for transformation in Pichia pastoris host strain.

Site directed mutagenesis of the ATWAX polypeptide sequence described in SEQ ID NO: 2 were performed in order to identify the catalytic triad. The PCR based mutagenesis were performed using mega-primer method (Ling, M. M., & Robinson, B. H., 1997, 254(2): 157-178) for the construction of three nucleotide sequences encoding ATWAX-S229A, ATWAX-D472N and ATWAX-H523A with the single residue mutant S229A, D472N and H523A, respectively.

Example 2

Transformation in Pichia and Growth for Expression.

Competent Pichia pastoris cells were prepared according to the procedure mentioned in the EasySelect Manual supplied by Invitrogen Inc. Electroporation, as described in the EasySelect Manual, was used to transform the linearized expression vector, pATWAX, p72ATWAX, p92ATWAX or pHISATWAX described in EXAMPLE 1 above, into the Pichiapastoris host strain X-33 or KM71H. The procedure of Zeocin selection was used to select transformants, which were plated on YPD medium containing Zeocin. For the expression of the transformed genes, cells were initially cultured to a final O.D. of 3-5 in BMGY medium supplemented with 1% (v/v) glycerol, after which cells were subsequently washed with either sterile water or YPD medium. The washed cells were then suspended in BMMY medium supplemented with 0.5% (v/v) methanol for induction of the transgene and further cultured for 3-4 days in a volume corresponding to 0.5-0.2 of the original volume. Methanol (20%, v/v) was added to a final concentration of 0.5% (v/v) every 24 hours. Cell-free medium was collected by centrifugation and was used for western blot analyses and enzyme activity studies.

Example 3

Western Blot Analysis of Cell Free Medium of Pichia pastoris KM71H Transformed with pATWAX.

In order to determine the presence of ATWAX in the cell free culture medium, P. pastoris KM71H transformed with pATWAX were cultured as described in EXAMPLE 2. Aliquots of cell free culture medium were withdrawn at different time points following induction and subjected to Western blot analysis using anti yeast-PDAT polyclonal antibody. The antibody was raised in a rabbit by the injection of partially purified ATWAX. The ATWAX used for this purpose was produced in Echerichia coli.

The western blot based on immunodetection system as presented in FIG. 1 clearly show the presence of a polypeptide, present in the cell free medium with a molecular weight of approximately 82 kDa, that cross-reacts with the anti-yeast PDAT. By comparing the results obtained on the western blot analyses obtained with the cell free medium from 58, 82 and 112 hours of induction (i.e. FIG. 1 lane 1, 2, and 3, respectively) it is concluded that the secreted ATWAX is continuously secreted and accumulated in the cell free medium up to at least 112 hours of induction without being degraded. This is further supported by the lack of additional band of lower molecular weight that could be referred to as degradation products. Cell free medium of the untransformed Pichia strain did not crossreact with the ATWAX antibody (laneS). These data also indicates that the ATWAX present in the cell free medium is glycosylated and that the glycosylation contributes to about 17 kDa of the molecular weight, since a non-glycosylated ATWAX should have a weight of 65 kDa as calculated from its amino acid composition.

Example 4

Detection of ATWAX Enzyme Activity in the Culture Supernatants.

To determine the enzyme activity in the cell free culture medium the cell free supernatant was assayed for enzyme activity as follows. The cell free supernatant of the induced cultures described in EXAMPLE 2, from 116 hours of growth of Pichia pastoris KM71H transformed with the pATWAX construct encoding ATWAX, the polypeptide described in SEQ ID NO: 2 (FIG. 2, lane 2) and the congenic wt strain (FIG. 2, lane 1) were assayed for acyl transferase activity. Lipid substrate, sn1-palmitoyl sn2-[¹⁴C]linoleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (5 nmol; 5000 dpm/nmol) and dioleoylglycerol (2.5 nmol) dissolved in chloroform was aliquoted in 1.5 ml tubes and the chloroform was evaporated under a stream of N₂ (g). After addition of 20 ul 0.25 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.2, the mixture was violently agitated and 80 ul of cell free supernatant was added and incubated at 30° C. for 90 min. Lipids were extracted from the reaction mixture into chloroform (Bligh, E. G. and Dyer, W. J (1959) Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37, 911-917) and separated by TLC on silica gel 60 plates (200×200 mm) in chloroform/methanol/acetic acid/water (85:15:10:3.5) migrating 90 mm using an automatic developing chamber (Camag). The plate was dried and redeveloped in hexane/diethyl ether/acetic acid (80:20:1) with a solvent migration of 180 mm. The radioactive lipids were visualized and quantified on the plates by electronic autoradiography (Instant Imager; Packard). As a control, the enzyme activity in the cell free supernatant of the wild type host strain culture was analysed. As shown in FIG. 2, the majority of the [¹⁴C]linoleoyl group translocated from phosphatidylethanolamine is associated with triacylglycerol after the incubation. This demonstrates that the truncated membrane independent form of yeast PDAT, referred to as a membrane independent acyltransferase that we have named ATWAX, is able of catalysing the formation of TAG by an acyltransfer from phosphatidylethanolamine to diacylglycerol (DAG). Radiolabeled acylgroups can also be detected as unesterified fatty acids indicating the presence of a lipase activity. However, since a release of radiolabeled fatty acids also occur in the cell free supernatant of untransformed host strain it is not possible to conclude whether this lipase activity is associated with ATWAX.

The cell free supernatant of the induced cultures of P. pastoris KM71H transformed with the p72ATWAX or p92ATWAX constructs were by western blot analyses shown to be expressed and secreted in to the culture medium. However the cell free medium containing these truncated polypeptides, lacking a stretch of 72 or 92 amino acids residues of the ATWAX N-terminus, respectively, did not catalyse the synthesis of TAG when analysed for enzyme activity according to method described above.

Furthermore, nucleotide sequences encoding the ATWAX-S229A, ATWAX-D472N and ATWAX-H523A mutant polypeptides were generated as described in EXAMPLE 1 and expressed in Pichia pastoris as described in EXAMPLE 2. The expression of these mutant polypeptides was verified by western blot analyses of aliquots of cell free medium from cultures expressing these polypeptides, respectively. However, all three mutant polypeptides were inactive when assayed for acyltransferase activity according to method described above. Hence, the amino acid residues S229, D472 and H523 are essential for the catalytic activity and are therefore here suggested to be part of a catalytic triad.

A membrane independent acyltransferase with an N-terminal stretch of six Histidine residues was produced by the expression of the construct HisATWAX in Pichia pastoris (described in EXAMPLE 1 and 2). This polypeptide was when analysed for acyltransferase activity as described above shown to be active with similar catalytic properties as the ATWAX.

Example 5

Production of Waxesters

Wax esters can be synthesised from soy lecithin and different alcohols by the catalyses of the membrane independent acyltransferases, ATWAX and HisATWAX. This acyltransferases was produced and secreted into the culture medium by expressing the construct pATWAX or pHisATWAX, respectively in Pichia pastoris (described in EXAMPLE 2). Aliquots of cell free medium was prepared and stored at −20° C.

The ability to synthesise wax esters from soy lecithin and 13c-docosenoyl-alcohol (◯ in FIG. 3) or ricinoleoyl-alcohol (● in FIG. 3) by the membrane independent His-tagged acyltransferase present in the cell free culture medium was investigated and the results are given in FIG. 3. The conditions for the synthesis were as follows; lecithin (2.5 mg), sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[¹⁴C]oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (5 nmol; 5000 dpm/nmol) and 6 mmol of 13c-docosenoyl-alcohol or ricinoleoyl-alcohol dissolved in chloroform was aliquoted in 12 ml glass tubes and the chloroform was evaporated under a stream of N₂ (g). To the dry lipid substrate 0.5 ml of cell free medium and 25 ul 1.0 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.2 were added. The reaction mixture was sonicated in a water bath (Branson 2510) for 30 min and was further incubated at 37° C. to a final incubation time as indicated in FIG. 3. Lipids were extracted from the reaction mixture into chloroform (Bligh, E. G. and Dyer, W. J (1959) Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37, 911-917) and separated by TLC on silica gel 60 plates (200×200 mm) in hexane/diethyl ether/acetic acid (55:45:0.5) with a final solvent migration of about 180 mm. Wax esters products were verified through the methylation of the wax ester products excised from the TLC plate (using method described in Dahlqvist et al., 2000, PNAS 97: 6487-6492) followed by the separation of the methylation products on silica gel 60 plates in hexane/diethyl ether/acetic acid (55:45:0.5). Only two components were detected, methyl esters of fatty acids and free alcohols as identified by means of appropriate standards. The amounts of wax esters produced, from the added radiolabeled sn1-palmitoyl sn2-[¹⁴C]linoleoyl-phosphatidylcholine and the non-labelled alcohols, were quantified on the plates by electronic autoradiography (Instant Imager; Packard) as percentage of radiolabel in wax esters of total added. As shown in FIG. 3 the ATWAX was catalysing the synthesis of wax esters of 13c-docosenoyl-alcohol (◯ in FIG. 3) or ricinoleoyl-alcohol (● in FIG. 3) with similar efficiencies, which reached a plateau after 4 hours of incubation at which about 55-60% of the radiolabeled acylgroups of the added phosphatidylcholine had formed a wax ester with the alcohol. Apart from the formation of the wax ester, lysophospholipids is also formed in this reaction.

The dependence of the ratio of the added lecithin and alcohol substrate on the conversion rate is presented in FIG. 4A. The conditions for the synthesis were as follows; lecithin (10 mg), sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[¹⁴C]oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (10 mmol; 5000 dpm/nmol) and 3.7, 7.4, 11.1, or 18,7 mg of ricinoleoyl-alcohol, giving an alcohol to lecithin ratio as indicated in FIG. 4A, dissolved in chloroform was aliquoted in 12 ml glass tubes and the chloroform was evaporated under a stream of N₂ (g). To the dry lipid substrate 1.2 ml of cell free medium and 60 ul 1.0 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.2 was added. The reaction mixture was sonicated in a water bath (Branson 2510) for 30 min and was further incubated at 37° C. to a final incubation of 4 hours. Lipids were extracted and analysed as described above. These analyses show that at a weight ratio of the alcohol to lecithin of 0.4 (corresponding to an equimolar amounts of alcohol and lecithin added) 28% of the radiolabeled fatty acids was converted into waxesters and by increasing the ratio 5-fold the wax ester synthesis was increased 2-fold.

By increased substrate concentration with constant lecithin to alcohol weight ratio, the conversion into waxesters is decreased as shown in FIG. 4B. Incubating lipid substrates as described above together with 1.2 ml of cell free medium at 37° C. for 20 hours performed these analyses. From the results presented in FIG. 4 A and B it is evident that in order to optimise the yield of waxesters produced from lecithin and an alcohol the total substrate concentration and the substrate ratio are important factors to consider.

The major lipid component in the soy lecithin is phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine constituting about 60% of the acyl lipids present, other phospholipids present are phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidic acid, which contributes up to approximately 25%, the remaining lipids are neutral lipids, lysolipids, and glycolipids. The fatty acid composition of the total lipid content of the soy lecithin used in the present study was analysed and are presented in FIG. 5 (filled bars). The major fatty acid component is linoleic acid (18:2) constituting 56% of the fatty acids present, other unsaturated fatty acids are oleic acid (18:1) and linolenic (18:3), and the unsaturated fatty acids are palmitic (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0). In FIG. 5 data are also presented on the fatty acid composition of the wax ester (open bars) produced from the soy lecithin and ricinoleoyl alcohol as described above. By comparing the fatty acid composition of the wax ester product with that of the lecithin substrate it is clear that the unsaturated fatty acids are preferentially converted into the waxesters whereas the saturated fatty acids are less efficiently used for wax ester synthesis. This can partly be explained by the fact that these unsaturated fatty acids are preferentially esterified to the sn1 position of the lipids and that ATWAX is specific for the transfer of fatty acids from the sn-2 position.

The synthesis of different waxesters from soy lecithin was achieved by using different alcohols as the acyl acceptor and with conditions as follows; lecithin (2.5 mg), sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[1⁴C]oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (10 nmol; 5000 dpm/nmol) and 6 mmol of decanol, hexadecanol, 13c-docosanol, hexacosanol or ricinoleoyl-alcohol dissolved in chloroform was aliquoted in 12 ml glass tubes and the chloroform was evaporated under a stream of N₂ (g). To the dry lipid substrate 0.5 ml of cell free medium was added and 25 ul 1.0 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.2. The reaction mixture was sonicated in a water bath (Branson 2510) for 30 min and was further incubated at 37° C. to a final incubation of 20 hours. The synthesised wax esters were extracted and quantified as described above. The results are presented in table 1 and clearly show that apart from hexacosanol all alcohols could efficiently be used as acyl group acceptors in the synthesis of wax esters. Hexacosanol is a saturated 26 carbon alcohol with a high melting point and is therefore badly emulsified at assay conditions used in the present study and this is suggested to be the main reason to that only 5% of added radiolabeled acylgroups were esterified with the hexacosanol. In contrast, approximately 40 to 50 percent of the added radiolabeled acyl group formed wax esters with the other alcohols tested (table 1). The ricinoleic acid contains a hydroxyl group at position 12 in the carbon chain, however it could not act as an acyl acceptor in the catalyses of wax esters by the ATWAX enzyme. It is therefore concluded that in the synthesis of waxesters from lecithin and ricinoleoyl alcohol as shown in table 1 the acylgroups derived from the lecithin is exclusively esterified to the hydroxyl group of position 1 and not to that of position 12 of the ricinoleoyl alcohol. TABLE 1 Synthesis of wax esters from sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[¹⁴C]oleoyl- phosphatidylcholine and different alcohols (acyl acceptors) in cell free supernatants. [¹⁴C]-acylgroups in wax esters Acyl acceptor (% of added) Butanol Nd Decanol 42.8 Hexadecanol 44.8 13c-Docosenol 53.9 Hexacosanol 5.1 Ricinoleoyl alcohol 51.1 Ricinoleoyl fatty acid nd

Example 6

The ability to catalyse the synthesis of wax ester with the membrane bound full length PDAT expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined. Microsomes were prepared from wild type S. cerevisiae cells overexpressing the yeast PDAT gene LRO1 as described in, Dahlqvist et al., 2000 (PNAS 97:6487-6492) and were assayed for wax ester synthesis. The PDAT activity was analysed with the addition of the lipid substrates dissolved in benzene to dry aliquots of lyophilised microsomes (corresponding to 12 nmol of microsomal phosphatidylcholine) (Dahlqvist et al., 2000, PNAS 97:6487-6492). As substrate we used 2.5 nmol of sn1-oleoyl-sn2-[¹⁴C]oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (lane 1) together with either 2.5 nmol ricinoleoyl alcohol (Ric-OH, lane 2) or 13c-docosenol (22:1-OH, lane 3). The enzymatic assay and lipid analysis were performed as described in Dahlqvist et al., 2000 (PNAS 97:6487-6492). It is clearly shown in FIG. 6 that triacylglycerols are synthesised by an acyltransfer of the radiolabeled acyl group of the added phospholipid to the endogenous diacylglycerols present in the microsomal preparation (FIG. 6, lane 1), as previously reported. However, adding ricinoleoyl alcohol or 13c-docosenol (FIG. 6, lane 2 and 3) to the incubation formed no detectable amounts of waxesters. It is therefore concluded that the full-length membrane associated PDAT encoded by the LRO1 gene do not catalyse the wax ester synthesis such as presently shown above for the membrane independent acyltransferase, ATWAX. Hence it is here shown that the utilisation of different acyl donors and acceptors by an membrane independent acyltransferase is less limited, as compared to acyltransferases integrated into lipidmembranes via one or several membrane-spanning regions, since the accessibility of different substrates are restricted to the vicinity of the localisation of the membrane integrated enzyme.

Example 7

Genes Homologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Gene LRO1.

The yeast PDAT (ScPDAT) amino acid sequence encoded by the LRO1 gene was used to search the NCBI databases for homologous sequences in plants and microbes. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe one gene SpPDAT with strong homologies to the yeast PDAT gene LRO1 was identified. Four Arabidopsis thaliana genes At6704, At1254, At3027 and At4557 with clear homology to amino acid sequence encoded by the yeast LRO1 gene were identified. Additionally two plant genes Cp6704 and Cp1254 homologies to At6704 and At1254, respectively, were identified in Crepis palaestina. The full-length genes of Cp6704 and Cp1254 were amplified from double stranded cDNA, synthesised with C. palaestina seed mRNA as template. The coding region of the SpPDAT, At6704, At1254, At3027, At4557, Cp6704 and Cp1254 nucleic acid sequences are shown in SEQ ID NO:16, 4, 12, 8, 10, 18 and 20. The amino acid sequences encoded by SpPDAT, At6704, At1254, At3027, At4557 Cp6704 and Cp1254 sequences, i.w., SEQ ID NO:17, 5, 13, 9, 19 and 21, are aligned together with the yeast LRO1 in FIG. 7 using hierarchical clustering as described in F. Corpet, 1988, Nucl. Acids Res., 16; 10881-10890. In similarity with the yeast PDAT ScPDAT, as predicted by the THMM2.0 program (A. Krogh, B. Larsson, G. von Heijne, and E. L. L. Sonnhammer, (2001) Journal of Molecular Biology, 305:567-580), all these plant genes contains a single N terminal localised transmembrane spanning region as marked with gray boxes in FIG. 7. The full length At6704 gene has been shown to encode an enzyme with PDAT activity (Banas et al., 2003 in Advanced Research on Plant Lipids 179-182). Any data on the activity associated with the gene products of Atl254, At3027 or the At4557 has not yet been published.

Additionally, nucleotide sequences from Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus fumigatus (SEQ ID NO 14 and 15) were identified. Translated amino acid sequences from these nucleotide sequences shows strong homologies with the amino acid sequence of the yeast PDAT (FIG. 8). In similarity with the yeast PDAT the Aspergillus sequences contains a single N-terminal membrane-spanning region, within the first 100 amino acids, as predicted by the THMM2.0 program.

Example 8

Expression of an Active Membrane Independent Acyltransferase From a Nucleotide Sequence, Derived from the Plant Gene At6704.

The yeast PDAT protein sequence was used to search the NCBI databases for homologous sequences in Arabidopsis thaliana. One of the identified sequences was At6704 encoding a plant PDAT (Banas et al., 2003 in Advanced Research on Plant Lipids 179-182). A cDNA clone, corresponding to At6704 was ordered from the AIMS database. The clone was sequenced and found to contain an insertion of one base. This extra base was deleted through site directed mutagenesis. The At6704 gene encodes a plant-PDAT with a membrane-spanning region from aa 48 to aa 70 as predicted by the THMM2.0 program (A. Krogh, B. Larsson, G. von Heijne, and E. L. L. Sonnhammer, (2001) Journal of Molecular Biology, 305:567-580).

A nucleotide sequence, SEQ ID NO: 6 identical in sequence to the part of the plant PDAT gene At6704 encoding the amino acid residues 74 to 671 (SEQ ID NO: 7) was amplified by thermo stable Pfu Turbo Polymerase (Stratagene Inc.) from the plasmid template pUS56 containing the full length At6704 plant gene. The forward (5′ end) primers used for this PCR reaction was; 5′CCATGGGAATGAATTCGCAATGCCTGCGAGCTTCCCTCAGTATGTA3′ The oligonucleotide sequence; 5′GAATTCGTTAGCGGCCGCCAGCTTCAGGTCAATACGCTCCGACCA3′ was used as the reverse (3′ end) primer in the PCR amplification.

Th amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:7) encoded by the amplified nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:6) lacks the amino acid residues 1 to amino acid 73 including the transmembrane region of amino acid residues 48 to 70 present in the plant PDAT as predicted by the THMM2.0 program.

The amplified PCR product above, was purified, digested by EcoRI and NotI, and subcloned between the EcoRI and NotI sites of the Pichia expression vector PpicZαA in frame with the N-terminal sequence encoding the αfactor signalpeptide present in the expression vector and a C-terminal c-myc epitope followed by a polyhistidine tag. The resultant Pichia expression vectors are named pHisATWAX-P6. The vector was linearized using unique SacI restriction site for transformation into Pichia pastoris host strain KM71H. Transformants were cultivated for the expression of the transformed gene as described in EXAMPLE 2. To determine the enzyme activity in the cell free culture medium the cell free supernatant was assayed for enzyme activity as follows. The cell free supernatant of the induced cultures of KM71H transformed with pHisATWAX as described in EXAMPLE 2, from 116 hours of growth of Pichia pastoris KM71H transformed with the pHisATWAX-P6 secreting, the polypeptide HisATWAX-P6 (FIG. 9, lane 1 and 2), the congenic wt strain (FIG. 9, lane 3 and 4) and KM71H expressing the polypeptide ATWAX were assayed for acyl transferase activity.

.Lipid substrate, sn1-palmitoyl sn2-[¹⁴C]linoleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (5 nmol; 5000 dpm/nmol) and dioleoylglycerol (2.5 nmol) dissolved in chloroform was aliquoted in 1.5 ml tubes and the chloroform was evaporated under a stream of N₂ (g). After addition of 20 ul 0.25 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.2, the mixture was violently agitated and 80 ul of cell free supernatant was added and incubated at 30° C. for 90 min. Lipids were extracted from the reaction mixture into chloroform (Bligh, E. G. and Dyer, W. J (1959) Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37, 911-917) and separated by TLC on silica gel 60 plates (200×200 mm) in chloroform/methanol/acetic acid/water (85:15:10:3.5) migrating 90 mm using an automatic developing chamber (Camag). The plate was dried and redeveloped in hexane/diethyl ether/acetic acid (80:20:1) with a solvent migration of 180 mm. The radioactive lipids were visualized and quantified on the plates by electronic autoradiography (Instant Imager; Packard). As a control, the enzyme activity in the cell free supernatant of the wild type host strain culture was analysed. As shown in FIG. 9, radiolabeled triacylglycerol (TAG) is formed, from the added lipid substrate, sn1-palmitoyl sn2-[¹⁴C]linoleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine and dioleoylglycerol, in cell free extract of Pichia strain transformed with pHisATWAX-P6. This demonstrates that the truncated membrane independent form of the plant PDAT, referred to as a membrane independent acyltransferase that we have named HisATWAX-P6, is able of catalysing the formation of TAG by an acyltransfer from phosphatidylethanolamine to diacylglycerol (DAG). 

1. A nucleotide sequence, derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding an acyltransferase polypeptide comprising at least one membrane-spanning region, encoding an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide in which at least one amino acid residue of the membrane-spanning region has been deleted and/or substituted as compared to the original acyltransferase polypeptide, wherein the encoded active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide can produce fatty acid esters and/or fatty acid thioesters such as triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols, phospholipids, glycolipids, lysolipids, waxesters, acylated carbohydrates and acylated amino acids.
 2. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding a lipid dependent acyltransferase polypeptide.
 3. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding a lipid dependent acyltransferase polypeptide catalysing an acyl transfer reaction in which acylphospholipids acts as acyl donors.
 4. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is derived from a nucleotide sequence encoding a phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase.
 5. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is derived from a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or
 20. 6. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 5, wherein from 1 to 291 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of the 5′-end has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1.
 7. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 6, wherein at least the nucleotide sequence residues 238 to 288 have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1.
 8. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 5, wherein from 1 to 219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of the 5′-end has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 4, 1-87 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:8 and SEQ ID NO:10 and 1-190 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:12.
 9. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 8, wherein at least the nucleotide sequence residues 142 to 210 have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:4, 19-87 nucleotide sequence residues of SEQ ID NO 8 and SEQ ID NO:10 and 130-190 nucleotide sequence residues of SEQ ID NO:12.
 10. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 5, wherein from 1 to 228 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of the 5′-end has/have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 16, 1-219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:18 and 1-261 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:20.
 11. The nucleotide sequence according to claim 10, wherein at least the nucleotide sequence residues 169 to 228 have been deleted and/or substituted from the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:16, 151-219 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:18 and 193-261 nucleotide sequence residue(s) of SEQ ID NO:20.
 12. The nucleotide sequences according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequences hybridises under stringent conditions to a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or
 20. 13. The nucleotide sequences according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence of said nucleotide sequence differs from the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequences shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 or 20 due to the degeneracy of the genetic code.
 14. A nucleotide sequence molecule comprising; a) at least one promoter region which functions in a host, the promoter region is operably linked to b) at least one nucleotide sequence according to claim 1, which is operably linked to c) at least one non-translated region which functions in a host.
 15. The nucleotide sequence molecule according to claim 14, wherein at least a signal peptide is operably linked between a) and b).
 16. A vector harbouring a nucleotide sequence molecule according to claim
 14. 17. The vector according to claim 16, wherein the vector is an expression vector.
 18. The expression vector according to claim 17, wherein the expression vector is selected from the group consisting of 2μ plasmid and derivatives thereof, POT1 pJSO37 and pPICZ A, B or C.
 19. A host cell comprising a nucleotide sequence molecule or a vector according to claim
 14. 20. The host cell according to claim 19, wherein the host cell is a host cell capable of producing a glycosylated polypeptide.
 21. The host cell according to claim 15, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of fungi, yeast, insects and mammalian cells.
 22. The host cell according to claim 21, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Trichoderma, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, Klyveromyces, Pichia, Hansenula, Mucor or Yarrowia.
 23. A method for the production of an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide comprising the steps of i) providing a host cell according to claim 19 and a growth medium preparing a host cell culture; ii) culturing the host cell culture and iii) harvesting the host cell culture and recovering the improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide.
 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the method is used in a fermenter.
 25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the polypeptide is recovered either from the culture medium, the cells or after separating the cells from the culture medium.
 26. A polypeptide obtained by the method according to any of claims claim 23, wherein the polypeptide at least is an improved active membrane independent acyltransferase polypeptide.
 27. The polypeptide according to claim 26, wherein the polypeptide is an acyltransferase active at a pH range of from about 4 to about 10 and stable at a temperature below 60° C.
 28. The polypeptide according to claim 27, wherein the polypeptide is an acyltransferase active at a pH of 7.2 at a temperature of about 30° C.
 29. The polypeptide according to claim 26, wherein the polypeptide at least show 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% homology to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, 21 or a homologue thereof.
 30. The polypeptide according to claim 26, wherein the polypeptide is immobilised to a carrier.
 31. The polypeptide according to claim 26, wherein the polypeptide is lyophilised and/or freeze-dried.
 32. An oligonucleotide specifically hybridising under stringent conditions to a nucleotide sequence of claim
 1. 33. A kit comprising the polypeptide according to claim 26 and a stabiliser.
 34. The kit according to claim 33, wherein the polypeptide is in a lyophilised form or freeze-dried.
 35. Use of a nucleotide sequence according to any of claims 1-13 and/or a nucleotide sequence molecule according to any of claims 14-15 and/or a vector according to any of claims 16-18 and/or a host cell according to any of claims 19-22 and/or the method according to any of claims 23-25 and/or the polypeptide according to any of claims 26-31 and/or the oligonucleotide according to claim 32 and/or the kit according to any of claims 33-34. 